Extension of Phase 2 forces cancellation of Sourwood Festival

Black Mountain Swannanoa Chamber of Commerce announces ‘tough decision’ to nix plans for August event

Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
June 25, 2020

The Black Mountain Swannanoa Chamber of Commerce announced the cancellation of the 43rd annual Sourwood Festival, originally scheduled for Aug. 8. Courtesy image

The Sourwood Festival, an annual summer tradition in Black Mountain, will not return for its 43rd year this August. 

The Black Mountain Swannanoa Chamber of Commerce announced June 25, less than 24 hours after Governor Roy Cooper extended Phase 2 of the state’s Safer at Home order, that the event would not take place in 2020. 

Sourwood typically features hundreds of vendors and brings approximately 30,000 visitors to downtown Black Mountain each year. Organized by the chamber of commerce, it generates around one-third of the chamber’s annual revenue, according to executive director Sharon Tabor. 

“This was a tough decision,” Tabor said of the cancellation. “This year’s Sourwood Festival was going to be modified to be a combination of vendors and local businesses, with activities in Town Square and other things to promote local merchants. We wanted to help businesses recoup some of the revenue they’ve lost during the time they’ve been forced to shut down.”

The 2020 version of the festival included an abbreviated one-day format, scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 8. 

“With the continuation of Phase 2 extending to at least July 17, that leaves us with only two weeks from that point to regroup if the state decides to move to Phase 3 at that time,” Tabor said. “We were looking at around 30 vendors, as opposed to 200, giving us much more room between tents, and a downsized amusement area because we weren’t sure where we would be on COVID-19 restrictions by that time. But, with the continuation of Phase 2, it made more sense to cancel it rather than pulling everything together at the last minute.”

The chamber is exploring the possibility of replacing this year’s festival with a smaller, local function. 

“I’ve reached out to the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority to see if we can use the grant money that was awarded to us for the Sourwood Festival to host an event that will support our local businesses,” Tabor said. “We’re looking at using that funding to coordinate something that will generate some business for our local merchants.”  

The Sourwood Festival debuted in 1977 and grew into a three-day event that features music, dancing, arts and crafts and carnival rides. Its name is derived from Sourwood honey, which is sourced from the nectar of flowers that bloom on the Sourwood trees of the Appalachian Mountains in the summer.